1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a telescopic assembly of the type which can be utilized in a telescopic steering assembly of an automotive vehicle. More particularly, the telescopic assembly is of the type having a shaft fitted in nested relation inside a yoke supported on a stationary member, the arrangement being such that the yoke is rotated by rotating the shaft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional telescopic assembly of the above-described type is described in the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,600. This conventional assembly includes a pair of shafts arranged in telescoping relation, a yoke rotatably retained by a stationary bracket fixedly secured to a vehicle body, a movable bracket for rotatably retaining the shaft on the input side, a nut rotatably attached to the stationary bracket, and a screw secured to the movable bracket, with the nut being threadedly engaged with the screw. When the nut is rotated by means such as a motor, the screw threadedly engaged therewith travels back and forth, depending upon the direction in which the nut is rotated. Accordingly, the movable bracket to which the screw is secured moves relative to the stationary bracket, thereby displacing the steering shaft in the axial direction. Rotation of the nut is halted when the steering shaft attains the desired length. Thus, by virtue of the threaded engagement between the nut and screw, the steering shaft can be set to and maintained at a desired length.
Since the screw is secured to the movable bracket and the nut threadedly engaged with the screw is rotatably retained by the stationary bracket in the foregoing conventional assembly, the total axial displacement of the screw from one side of the stationary nut to the other is approximately twice the axial length of the screw. Consequently, the space required for the screw on the steering shaft is unnecessarily large and constitutes a drawback of the conventional assembly.